Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has voiced his support for England red-ball coach and captain duo Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, saying the pair were right to stick by their struggling batters in Pakistan.
In England's most recent Test series, they travelled to Pakistan and won the first Test on the back of a mammoth 823-7 in Multan, scored in response to Pakistan's 556.
But for the second Test, the hosts opted to re-use the same Multan wicket, drying it out to assist spin, and preparing similar spin-friendly conditions in Rawalpindi for the third Test. Both matches were won by Pakistan, as spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali accounted for 39 of the 40 England wickets to fall.
Despite the nature of the wickets, there was also much discussion over England's batting lineup, and whether their batters were suited to playing in different conditions to their familiar ones at home, often on flatter surfaces.
Stokes and McCullum right to stick by England’s batters
Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has since suggested that England made the right call by sticking to their guns and backing their first-choice batters. Speaking to Betway, Smith said, "It seemed that the type of surfaces changed during England’s tour of Pakistan, and that’s the big challenge for England.
"Outside of Joe Root, England play a certain way and it’s not easy to just keep playing one style of cricket.
"You’ve got to adapt to the challenges in front of you, especially when touring away from home. I think England have got a formula for playing in England – the ball swings, the batters know what to expect – but when you’re travelling, sometimes you do need to adapt. It seems their method requires some change of skill level and change of strategy when things are tough.
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"I have no problem with Ben Stokes sticking by his top six batters, though. Over a consistent period of time, he and Brendon McCullum have created confidence in players to go and take the game on, be positive and get rid of that fear of failure.
"If you think back to how long it took Zak Crawley to find his feet, and they’ve still stuck behind him and backed him. They pick players they believe can play the way they want to play."
Smith also touched upon England's upcoming tour of New Zealand, saying that flatter wickets would likely play into England's hands. However, he also asserted that with any assistance from the surface, New Zealand would compete and bring the best out of themselves. He signed off by saying the series was 50-50 between two evenly-matches sides, and could go either way.
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